Such Great Heights
by The Sound Of Thunder
Summary: Sometimes, a simple misson has totally unbelivable consequences. NejiXTenten
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, thanks for reading and please review :)**

Tenten sighed and wrapped her arms around her shivering body in a futile attempt to get warmer. If the fact she was absolutely freezing wasn't enough, she was exhausted as well. She hadn't slept well the last few nights, and she was now paying a heft price for it now. She was on watch duty, seated on the roof of the hotel they were staying at, watching the street below, more specifically a warehouse on the street, for any sign of suspicious activity.

She sighed once more, and looked out across the town they were searching. The rooftop sure was cold at night(not that it was suprising really, seeing as they were in wave country), but it provided a perfect vantage point for watch duty, not to mention the beautiful view of the town stretching out below, into the night.

They had been on this mission for nearly two weeks now, taking it in turns to watch the warehouse each night. Two and a half weeks ago, the daughter of the Fire Country daiymo had gone missing. The daiymo had come Konoha and requested a squad to go out and look for any clues appertaining to her whereabouts. Tenten, along with Neji, Naruto and Sasuke had been that squad, and now a week and a bit later the trail had lead them to Wave Country, where they believed the gang that had kidnapped the Daiymo's daughter had their base.

An old acquaintance of Sasuke's had proved useful in their search. They had learned that the abduction plot had been planned for a little over two months, and the gang planned to use the Daiymo's daughter for ransom, With the money from the ransom they could buy shares in many businesses in the town, and ultimately gain control of the town, and if things went okay from their maybe even gain control of Water Country.

Tsunade had said that it was a small risk mission, usually she would have sent a genin team with their jonin sensei, however , since it was a mission for the Daiymo, it was obligatory to send a more experienced team.

Another cruel gust of wind swept the length of the rooftop making Tenten grimace. She pulled her arms as far down as they would go, her fists both clutching a kunai, nestled in the material. Her hands were still cold, but it would have to do. She only had an hour left. Watch duty finished at 6am. Tenten smiled.

Dawn was slowly breaking over Water Country, and it was beautiful. Life as a shinobi did not make the individual as cold as they may seem. Even after all the hardship and suffering she had experienced and seen, eighteen year old Tenten still appreciated the beauty in life, be it a flower or a pretty sunrise, like the one she was seeing now.

* * *

The sound of footsteps on the southern side of the roof alerted Tenten, it was impossible for anyone but a ninja to get to the roof, and in a swift,fast movement she was on her feet and in fighting stance, ready to attack the intruder.

"Its only me." Came the cool, slightly amused voice of Hyuuga Neji.

Tenten took a moment to relax, and after making certain it wasn't an enemy nin disguised as Neji, exhaled in relief.

"Neji! You scared me."

Neji smirked. "Your reaction time has improved."

Tenten rolled her eyes, a small smile on her lips, but inside she glowed with pride.

"What did you want Neji? I still have an hour to go. Has there been a change in the plan for today?"

Neji shook his head. "No, you and Naruto are still to attend the opening of the new hotel. It is vital that you find out what you can."

Tenten looked puzzled. "Why are you here then?"

Neji seemed to stiffen. "I merely came to tell you that you can go get some sleep now. You looked pale last night at dinner. It would be troublesome if you became ill."

Tenten hid her small smile. "Arigatou, Neji."

* * *

Tenten entered the hotel room she was sharing with the three other boys without bothering to knock.

Naruto was just coming out of the bathroom, toothbrush in mouth.

"Tentensh, what aw you dowin' ba sho earlysh?"

Tenten laughed. "What?"

Naruto took the toothbrush out of his mouth. "I thought watch ended at 6?"

"Neji said I looked ill."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Just 'cause he's the team leader. He wouldn't do that if I got sick."

"Maybe that's because you'd actually shut up for a change if you were ill, dobe." came the voice of Uchiha Sasuke from the boy's bedroom.

"Hey! Teme this team would be nothing without me!"

Tenten rolled her eyes. "I'm going to go get some sleep. I'll be up around 7:30pm for the Ceremony.."

Tenten walked into the tiny room she had been given. A single bed took up most of the room, with a chest of drawers for her belongings squeezed next to it. She quickly set the alarm clock before kicking off her shoes and climbing into the bed, without bothering to change into nightwear.

* * *

Tenten awoke to the shrill ringing of the alarm clock, hastily she rolled over and switched it off, before stretching and getting out of bed. She had gained nearly a nights worth of sleep, and she already felt much better, and less cold.

Tenten picked through her drawers for her kimono. Todays objective was pretty simple: Attend the opening ceremony of the new Kurama Hotel on the main street, and gain any information possible. If they found out nothing new today, they would have to retrace their steps and deem this lead a dead end.

Tenten adjusted her Obe and began to work on her hair, brushing the mahogany strands out of her over worn buns, so it gently cascaded down her back. She wasn't quite sure why she never wore her hair down, maybe it was the fact she was scared of accidentally cutting it with one of her weapons, or the fact that it was the only thing about her that hadn't changed. Everything else had changed, her outfit, her limits and even her knowledge of weaponry, so she desperately clung to the last piece of her childhood, which just happened to be those trademark buns of hers.

Tenten carefully applied some rouge to her cheekbones, and defined her eyes in a thin line of kohl. It wasn't much, but then again Tenten had never been the sort of girl to pile on the makeup. She kept it simple, and it suited her. She stepped into her formal sandals and was ready to go.

Tenten stepped out of the small room, and into the living part of their hotel room. Sasuke was lounging on the couch, polishing his katana.

"Uchiha-san, where's Naruto?"

Sasuke looked slowly. "The dobes still getting ready. Your hair looks different."

Tenten reached to her hair uncertainly. Sasuke was so strange at times. "Uh, thanks?"

Sasuke didn't bother replying, and carried on polishing his katana.

Naruto was ready quick enough, "Tenten-chan, why do you always wear you hair up?"

Tenten laughed a little. "It gets in the way of my training I suppose, I'd hate to cut it or something."

"But look at Neji's hair. Its so long, longer than yours and it doesn't get in the way of his training."

"Hn." Neji narrowed his eyes as he entered the room.

Tenten fought back laughter.

Naruto, as always, didn't know when to shut up.

"I mean when I first met him I thought he was a flat chested girl..."

"Its a Hyuuga tradition. For the men to have long hair." Tenten found herself saying. Naruto gave her an odd look.

"So Naruto and I pose as a couple. What are you and Uchiha-san going to do Neji?" Tenten said, hoping to get back to the mission briefing before anyone could question why she defended Neji.

"I'm watching the warehouse, and Uchiha is going to check out some of the local bars and see what information he can get there."

Neji handed Tenten a key to the hotel room. "I don't trust him to keep it. Its not like you need it, but its essential we don't draw attention to ourselves."

The three of the looked at Neji and nodded. This was promptly followed by a late protest from Naruto.

"Hey!. At least I can trust myself to not look like a girl!"

Neji carried on like he hadn't heard him. "We'll be using these radios to stay in touch. They're small so you can clip it inside your ear. If anything appears to be going wrong, report it immediately."

They all nodded and began fitting their radios.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! Five reviews for one chapter :) It makes me happy inside! Thanks to WeaponsMistress , Nightshadow Dweller, Merciless Ruby, I.heart.Hatake.Kakashi and imzuok for reviewing! Just so everyones straight, Naruto is posing as Shigure Nobuyuki, and Tenten as his wife, Yoko Nobuyuki.**

Tenten inwardly sighed, as she plastered on the fake smile and initiated yet another forced conversation with yet another vainglorious guest. She had naively expected the hotel opening to be a little more lively, instead it was a suffocatingly formal event, filled to the brim with rich merchants and businessmen and their wives.

There was a bar that served extremely overpriced drinks, and small tables topped with the widest array of foods Tenten had seen yet.

"Teucha Kinomi and my wife Teucha Masako" A middle aged man in a expensive looking yukata gripped Naruto's hand . Naruto bowed his head politely.

"Nobuyuki Shigure, Nobuyuki Yoko," Naruto said; gesturing to himself and Tenten.

Tenten kept the artificial smile on her face, trying not to grimace. Arrogance seemed to be ubiquitous. They were all of the same class, all thought they were better than one another. Trophy wives seemed to accurately describe most of the women in the room, most of them were beautiful, and if not it was most likely they came from a wealthy family.

* * *

Teucha Kinomi moved away, his wife in tow. Naruto leaned towards Tenten.

"Lets get some sake, this is just too boring."

Tenten turned and gave the blond a condescending look. "Neji would kill us if we drank while 'on duty'. It would jeapordize the mission."

"Tente- I mean- Yoko-o-o! Please! Just one, he won't know..." Naruto whinged, drawing out the last O of her alias in an annoyingly childish manner.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Fine. One. But if Neji finds out, it was your idea."

Naruto grinned, and before Tenten had time to rethink her decision, he had grabbed her arm and made a beeline for the bar.

* * *

Naruto plopped down on a bar stool, quickly pulling Tenten down on the one next to him.

"Sake, please!" He exclaimed. "Yoko, what do you want?"

"Ramune(1), please." Tenten said.

Naruto's face fell. "Aw, Yoko, come on! Just have a bit of sake! Its not right to drink on your own!"

"No."

"Yoko-o-o-o-o!" Naruto did the annoying o thing again.

Tenten felt her eyebrow twitch. "Fine."

"Bartender! A bottle of sake to share!" Naruto yelled, making people around them wince.

"Shigure! I said one, not a whole bottle! And be quiet! People are staring!" Tenten hissed, gripping Naruto's arm.

Naruto turned to her. "Now, now Yoko, don't worry your pretty little head." he patted her hair.

If looks could kill, Naruto would be dead. "Don't you dare do that again." Tenten growled through gritted teeth. Naruto flinched.

The bartender placed their drinks in front of them, and went to serve some other guests. Naruto poured their drinks into the tiny cups that were usually found gripped in Tsunade's hands.

Tenten picked hers up, watching as Naruto downed his.

"Ah." He smacked his lips before turning to her. "Drink! Drink! Its good."

Tenten brought the drink to her lips, a little more demurely than her 'husband'. The sake burned slightly as it slid down her throat. Naruto was right, it _was _good.

She gently placed the cup back on the bar, and Naruto , almost immediately filled it back up again.

Tenten knew she should say no, but it had been almost a month since she last drank sake as good as this.

She downed it quickly, hoping her misgivings would go with it.

Naruto nudged her slyly. "What happened to 'just one', eh, Yoko?"

"Oh shut up."

* * *

They had ended up finishing the bottle, and Tenten was feeling slightly floaty, she was by no means drunk, tipsy maybe but not drunk.

"I'm off the the bathroom, stay here." Tenten patted Naruto on the shoulder. He nodded, and turned back to the conversation he was having with the bartender, clutching his beer.

Tenten wove her way through the crowds of stuck up people, and slipped through the door into the ladies bathroom with barely a sound. She made her way to the stalls, shutting and locking the door behind her.

Tenten had finished, and was about to make her way out when someone, or rather two women entered the toilet.

"Is is safe to talk?" One voice came. Tenten quickly masked her chakra presence.

There was a pause. "Nobody else is here." Came another voice, slightly deeper.

"Is she going to comply? Or will it have to be done by force, Akane-san?" The first voice came. Tenten's eyes widened, could they be talking about...?

Akane seemed to deliberate. "She's slowly breaking. We're moving her to the safe place, warehouse, in two days time. I think she'll be too far gone by that point to refuse to send her father the plea for help."

"So we'll have the money soon?"

"Yes." Akane snapped.

"Gomen, Akane-san, but Kinomi-sama grows impatient. It would be wise to not make him wait. He can control the way we see things."

Akane sighed. "I never wanted to become a shinobi involved in these kind of things, Naomi-san."

Naomi exhaled. "Nor I, but it cannot be helped. Our village needs his money and favour."

"The Village Hidden in the Fang." Akane seemed to be remembering something.

"I do not know what is to be made of our current situation. The water smells disgusting, and I doubt we'll get the money if she catches some sort of disease-"

"Someones coming!" Akane cut across Naomi.

Tenten held her breath as the door opened, and another person entered as Akane and Naomi left.

She stayed hidden in the stalls until the person who had entered had left. Tenten couldn't believe she was the one who had discovered something so vital to the mission. There wasn't a moment to be spared. She had to inform Neji and Sasuke immediately.

* * *

Tenten smiled at the bartender, and tapped Naruto on the arm. "We have to go, something has come up at home."

Naruto shook his head at her. "Relax! I'm sure everything is fine."

Tenten leaned closer and hissed in his ear. "I've found something out. We're. Leaving.Now.!"

Naruto turned to her with wide eyes. "Okay."

* * *

Tenten had radioed the other two while still in the bathroom. Neji and Sasuke were already at the hotel room when the two arrived.

Naruto pushed past them, and into the bathroom. There was a splattering noise as he vomited. Tenten grimaced, he must have drunk some more while she was in the bathroom.

Sasuke smirked. "The dobe can't handle his drink." he said to nobody in particular.

Neji turned to her. "You were drinking?"

Tenten rolled her eyes, "Its pretty obvious, I mean he is being sick in there."

Neji glared. "That wasn't my question. Were _you _drinking?"

Tenten gulped. "A little?"

Neji turned away from her. "There's more than a 'little' alcohol in your bloodstream, I'm surprised your not in there with him." He said coldly.

Tenten felt her temper flare. "I'm not an idiot! I don't need you to tell me how much sake I can handle!"

Neji turned back to her, a strange expression on his face. "I suppose you don't, but you could have jeopardized the whole mission! Alcohol can loosen tongues."

Tenten was getting ready to answer back, when Naruto stumbled back into the room, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

Sasuke stepped forward. "I suppose we can start now, if you've done throwing up. " he threw an arrogant look at Naruto. "Tenten what did you hear?"

The three boys all turned the attention to her. Tenten smiled internally. Finally, she was playing an important part in the mission. She eyed them all carefully, they slowly told the whole conversation, making sure to include everything.

"And then someone else came, and they left." Tenten finished.

Naruto was asleep on the couch. Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

Neji cleared his throat. "I think we should all rest and discuss it in the morning, when everyone is awake."

Sasuke nodded, before disappearing into the boys room.

"Night, Neji." Tenten made her way into her room.

* * *

She carefully untied and folded her Obi, placing it in the small chest of drawers, she did the same for her Kimono. Tenten snatched he pyjamas out of the top drawer, and pulled them on, before wiping off the small amount of makeup she was wearing with a cleansing wipe.

Tenten sighed as she let down her hair from its restraint. Her eyelids drooped, she was tierder than she thought.

**(1) Ramune is sorta like Japanese lemonade. Its really nice :) It has this cool bottle aswell, with a marble in that acts like a stopper. Its really hard to drink at first, cause the marble keeps getting caught.**

**Anyway thanks for reading, please review. I apologise for the lack of Neji/Tenten ness so far, but there's gonna be a small amount in the next chapter, and hopefully a whole lot more later on. I think the mission should be ended by the 4th chapter, as I want to develop some side pairings, I'm leaning so far towards NaruXHina , SasuXSaku and maybe some GaraaXMatsuri? I dunno. Anyway review please, and I'll try and get the next chapter up by wednesday!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh wow! My story has 12 reviews for just two chapters :-) Its nice to know people like it. Thanks to Nara Temari, Merciless Ruby, Maya-chan, xmarachanx, xxxlostinlovexxx, Berra91 and sammy for reviewing the last chapter!**

Tenten awoke with a pounding headache, and vomit rising in her throat. She kicked off the covers and quickly made her way to bathroom.

Tenten crashed to her knees, her hand gripping the toilet bowl at each side, her knuckles white. Her breath came in forced, even gasps. She felt the telltale sign of her mouth producing more saliva, and the dreaded tightening of the stomach muscles.

Tenten felt her stomach contract. A second later she was heaving into the toilet bowl. She coughed, and gasped for air as her stomach contracted again.

As she leant forward to vomit once more, she felt someone pulling her hair back, out of harms way. The person held her hair until she had finished throwing up her insides, all the while rubbing small soothing circles between her shoulder blades.

Tenten coughed weakly, and slumped back against the sink. She looked up to find Neji looking down at her, an amused look on his face.

She sighed, and held back a small smile. "Don't say a word."

"Here." He shoved two asprin and a glass of water into her hands. She gulped them down gladly.

"Thanks, Neji."

Neji didn't reply, instead he calmly dropped the lid on the toilet and flushed away its contents, before offering hand to Tenten, who was still slouched on the floor.

"I hope you don't expect to be let off todays planning, because of your hangover." Neji smirked.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't expect anything of the sort, Hyuuga."

* * *

It was midday, and quite frankly Tenten felt like death warmed up. The asprin had worn off about an hour ago, and her pounding headache had returned. The extreme nausea didn't help by making her grimace everytime she moved, either.

"I was informed last night that the leader of this movement is Teucha Kinomi." Sasuke was saying.

"We met him last night, and the nin from the Fang Village referred to their leader as Kinomi-sama." Tenten said, massaing her temples in an effort to rid her head of the throbbing pain.

Sasuke nodded at her. "I found out he usually spends his evenings at a bar I visited last night. Seishu. I propose that we take him on tonight, before they have time to move the girl."

Neji arched his eyebrow. "You do realise that we have no idea where they are keeping her , don't you? We also have no idea how many men he has at hand."

Sasuke glared at Neji.

Tenten held up her hand. "We have an idea of where they're keeping her. One of the nin last night mentioned something about how the smell of the water was disgutsting, and how they wouldn't get the money if she caught a disease. I think we can safely say they're keeping her at the docks."

Neji nodded.

"Tenten could seduce him, and lead us to his house, where we attack him and force him to lead us to the girl."

Neji's eyes darkened momentarily, but the look was gone so fast Tenten wondered if she imagined it.

"Seduce!?" Tenten spluttered. She hated seduction missions, they always made her feel so cheap.

"But... what if he guesses and takes Tenten-chan hostage also?" Naruto put his first point into the discussion.

"I am perfectly able to look after myself." Tenten shot Naruto a nasty look. "I'm not handi-capped."

Naruto gave a sheepish smile. "I know, I know but what if you're outnumbered?"

Sasuke hit Naruto upside the head. "Dobe. She's not going to be alone. We're going to be tailing them."

"Ohh!" Naruto grinned. "How?"

Neji, Sasuke and Tenten all groaned simultaneously.

* * *

Tenten didn't feel comfortable. Not at all. She was wearing a black ra-ra skirt that stopped mid thigh, and a grey v-neck vest top that was adorned with lace around the top and bottom. Two small sliver hoop earrings dangled from her ear lobe, and Tenten's simple black stilettos accentuated her long, slender legs. Her hair was loose, her eyes made up with smoky grey eye shadow and black kohl. Her cheeks held a rose tint, her lips glossed. Of course masses of poisoned senbon, mini kunai and shuriken were expertly hidden throughout her outfit.

She may not feel comfortable, Tenten mused, but she didn't look half bad.

* * *

"Tenten!" Naruto had yelled, even though she was in the same room. "He'll get down on his knees for you!!"

"It should work." Had been Sasuke's short answer.

Neji hadn't said anything. But as they were approaching their destination, he had quickly pulled her aside and whispered:

"Be careful."

Tenten had stood their for a moment, doubting her hold on reality, before she pulled herself together and nodded at him.

* * *

Tenten took a breath to keep her calm, ran her hand through her glossy tresses one last time and entered the bar.

* * *

A booming bassline cut through the bars smoky atmosphere. The scent of alcohol, cigarettes and sweat all mingled together, making Tenten wrinkle her nose. People too wasted to care writhed on the dancer floor, grinding against eachother. More people socialized around the edge of the dancefloor, seated at tables ,sipping cocktails and every other drink under the sun.

Tenten's trained eyes quickly scanned the room once, she mentally noted down all the possible esacpe routes. Another quick glance of the room, and she had found her target.

Kinomi Teucha was seated at the bar, sake clutched in hand, eyeing up the scantily clad women in a manner that reminded Tenten of a lion watching its prey. It made Tenten shudder at what she was about to do.

* * *

The brown haired beauty that Kinomi had noticed enter earlier, sauntered over to the bar, accidentally brushing his arm as she ordered sake. Her face struck a chord in him. He was sure he had seen her somewhere before.

"That'll be 4,000(1) yen." The bartender was saying to her, Kinomi smiled at him, and handed him the money before the girl had a chance to protest.

The girl flipped her hair over her shoulder, and smiled sexily at him. He felt his own lips curve slightly.

"So whats your name? I'm Teucha Kinomi. I don't usually see girls as pretty as you in places like this."

The girl smiled coyly at him, twirling her hair with her index finger. " I'm Yoko, Nobuyuki Yoko. You met my husband and I at the hotel opening."

Something clicked in Kinomi's head. Ah, so this was the elusive Yoko? He had noticed her when he had been introduced to her by her bumbling idiot of a husband. He had then spent the rest of the night searching for her.

"Where's your husband?" Kinomi found himself asking, smirking when the woman seemed to look away. "He doesn't know you're here?"

"I'm sure your wife isn't too certain of your whereabouts either." Yoko purred. Kinomi's smiled widened.

**So a little more NejiTenten-ness this time around. Hopefully I'll add the twist next chapter, which will either be up later today, or tomorrow :-) Please revew!**

**(1) Oh I have no idea of how much sake costs, so forgive me if I'm wrong!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! I should be getting the chapters up faster, as I broke my toe yesterday and got the day off from school. (It hurts worse than when I broke my ankle lol) Okay so on with the story:**

Tenten was obviously drunk. Either that or she was an amazing actress. Neji suspected the former.

She giggled as she clung to the outside wall of the bar for support. In a flash Tenten was grabbed by her companion, and pressed against the wall, his dirty hands roaming all over her body. She managed to let out a somewhat believeable giggle, before quickly pushing her hands away, a look of disgust on her face. Thankfully, or not so thankfully Teucha Kinomi didn't seem to notice, and they carried on down the street, stumbling every so often.

Neji's eyes narrowed.

* * *

"I own _three _h-hotels here!" Teucha Kinomi's bragged, his raucous, drunken tones reaching the ears of the Konoha shinobi, who were currently surveying the situation from a nearby rooftop.

They had been tailing Tenten and Kinomi for the better part of thirty minutes, and they were now at his biggest hotel, which overlooked the docks. They had been here for five minutes, while Teucha bragged about his money,land and how he planned to open more hotels in the district. The three nin had decided they would enter through a first floor window which was slightly ajar.

Neji had used his byakugan to try and locate the daiymo's daughter. She was being held in a secret room, below the wine cellars. It looked like it was partially flooded, and she was being guarded by two stronger chakra presences, and about ten weaker ones, signalling them to not be ninja.

"Hn." Was Neji's scoffing remark. "He only has two nin at his command. This should be easier than we expected."

Naruto's grin widened as Teucha unlocked the back entrance, and ushered Tenten inside. Finally they we're getting something done.

"Uchiha. You go straight down to the cellars, take care of the two Ninja. Naruto, take out the guards that are not shinobi. I will go and aid Tenten, we'll take out Teucha. Got it?"

The two men looked back at him, and nodded. "Hai."

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke silently slid from room to room, as the sought out the stairs to the wine cellar. There was no reason to attract any attention from guests, or extra guards.

The found the steps within minutes and began their descent.

* * *

Naruto grinned at his rival, as the ten guards rounded on him, completely forgetting about Sasuke, who slipped through the door they were supposedly guarding and into the room.

One guard raised his katana, swinging it about his head.

"You're either suicidal or extremely extremely stupid, fool!" The guard laughed. "Poor bastard, you don't have a chance."

The guard lunged at the Kyuubi container, Naruto dodged, and parried the blow with a kunai. He quickly flipped himself up and delivered a blow to the mans stomach that brought him to his knees, Naruto's heel came down on the mans neck in a perfectly arched axe kick.

A brief expression of suprise flashed across the mans face, before he slumped to the floor, his neck broken. The other guards stood motionless for a moment, shocked at how easily their leader was slain.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" There were eight clones. One for each man. The chaos broke out.

The guards had the upper hand weapons wise, but none of them had the ability to use chakra, so Naruto was above thim in that sense.

The clones quickly sorted out the weakest men, and when the clones disappeared with a poof, Naruto was left fighting against two burly brothers. The men looked eeriley similar, the smaller one wielded throwing knives, the other clutched a club.

The smallest of the two threw his knives at Naruto in quick succession, five of which he managed to dodge. The remaining two grazed his arm and calf, leaving a trail of blood down the metal.

* * *

Teucha Kinomi lead Tenten to his private quarters and the smirked slightly when her heard her gasp of awe. The room was luxurious and extravagant, it seemed to reflect his greedy and jealous personality. They were stood in what seemed to be the living area, it was twice the size of Tenten's apartment. A western style chandelier hung from the ceiling above their heads, and abstract paintings adorned the walls. The plush crimson carpet sank slightly under her shoes, leaving stiletto shaped indentation marks whenever she took a step. There was a bar in one corner, across from the drinks cabinet, and four doors on the opposite wall, leading to what Tenten assumed were his bedroom, bathroom, dining room and kitchen.

"Its lovley!" Tenten gasped, pretending to be taken in by his wealthy tastes. _Conceited bastard..._

"Would you like a drink, Yoko?" He purred, gesturing to the full drinks cabinet behind him.

Tenten shook her head, leaning in closer to him, her lips brushing his earlobe.

"Tell me why you _really _have the Daiymo's daughter." She hissed in his ear. "Because, I'm sure I heard its for shares."

* * *

Tenten expected him to react violently. He was one of those men, extremely easy to read. She could see right through him.

Kinomi recoiled, his expression darkened and he lunged for Tenten. He wasn't quick enough. She already stoop behind him, kunai to his throat.

"You little bitch!" Teucha spat.

At that moment, Neji burst through the door, byakugan activated. "Good work, Tenten."

Tenten dropped her guard a little. Teucha hurled his weight at her, his shoulder connecting forcefully with her stomach.

Tenten lost her balance, and tripped, landing in a heap on the carpet.

Tenten tried to get back to her feet, but Teucha was already dragging her across the room by her hair. Her eyes widened with shock. _Where has his speed come from...?_

"You move, and I'll slice her pretty little throat!" Teucha laughed mirthlessly. "I've got to admit, that was pretty calculating of you, exploiting my weakness for pretty, young girls." He caressed Tentens cheeks roughly. "But you're too late. you won't win against me. even if you did, you're no match for my two shinobi, even with your byakugan."

Neji's expression gave way slightly, a look of surprise briefly taking hold of his features, but it was gone in an instant, back to the cool, calculating demaour that would hopefully get them out of this alive.

"We have two other teammates who are at this moment, facing off against you two _shinobi_." Neji said, a mocking smile on his lips.

Teucha growled, and tighted his grip on Tentens hair. She grimaced as she felt the hair follicles began to give.

"They won't win. And I don't advise talking to me in that manner. I am of the Teucha clan, whose kekkai genkai help them master genjutsu. I am no exception." Teucha's expression changed his eyes narrowed, and his lips stretched into a chilling smile. It was the smile of a killer, who would do anything to get what he wanted.

Tenten slowly began edging her sharpest kunais from their hiding place underneath her skirt. She prayed Neji would keep him talking, so Teucha wouldn't notice.

"So this clan of yours " Neji began. "I've never heard of them."

Tenten now had a kunai clutched in both hands.

Teucha was thankfully still glaring at Neji. "Thats because they were exiled from Fire Country by that bastard of a Daiymo, someone let slip about the genjutsu practices that happened to _unfortunate_members of the clan. In short he ripped away my clans honor, and I plan to avenga that."

Neji raised an eyebrow. "And you plan on getting your revenge by kidnapping his five year old daughter for ransom?"

"Oh no." Teucha smirked. "He pays the ransom, then we kill his daughter.I can use the money to sway more people to my way of seeing things. The trade in and out of Fire country would be run by me. He would be forced to comply with my actions otherwise just one snap of my fingers and the whole economy could crumble. I would be running the richest country in the land." He slackened his grip slightly on Tenten's hair, ans she took her chance.

One kunai ripped through her silky tresses, freeing them from his grasp, while the other plunged deep into Teucha's stomach.

* * *

In an instant Neji was behind him, and in another instant a kunai had ripped through his throat. He collapsed to the floor, his lifeless hand still clutching the mahogany clump of hair that she had sacrificed.

"Tenten." Neji pulled her to her feet, and before she could utter a word, he had urgently pressed his lips to hers.

Tenten stood rigid for a moment, but as Neji's arm snaked around her waist, drawing her closer to him, and his fingers tangled themselves in her uneven hair, she soon forgot her doubts, and relaxed, encircling her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss.

Tenten broke away first, needing to breathe.

"We should go and aid Uchiha and Naruto..." Tenten trailed off, breathlessly.

"Hn." Neji gave a small smile as they headed out of the door.

**Okay, so I didn't manage to add the twist yet. Thank god the missions nearly over! Its getting harder to write coz I suck at** **fight scenes. I'm sorry if this sucked too much, but I felt it needed to be there so I could wrap it up faster. The next chapter should be up by Wednesday at the very latest. Please leave a review and I'll get it up faster.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm sorry for the long wait between updates, I'm not going to use this space to fill with excuses, so I'll just say this, I lost interest in Naruto for a while, so I found writing fanfiction I wasn't interested in harder and harder. But I'm back into it now, and updates should be more frequent.**

* * *

_Re-cap:_

_"Tenten." Neji pulled her to her feet, and before she could utter a word, he had urgently pressed his lips to hers._

_Tenten stood rigid for a moment, but as Neji's arm snaked around her waist, drawing her closer to him, and his fingers tangled themselves in her uneven hair, she soon forgot her doubts, and relaxed, encircling her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss._

_Tenten broke away first, needing to breathe._

_"We should go and aid Uchiha and Naruto..." Tenten trailed off, breathlessly._

_"Hn." Neji gave a small smile as they headed out of the door._

* * *

Chapter 5

Two against four. Tenten smirked. This should be easy.

The first ninja was female, and looked about thirty, she had long, red hair, murky brown eyes and wielded a katana. The second was a burly man, he had no visible weapons. Scars marred the whole of his face, and the flesh around his ear lobe seemed melted, like he had been involved in an accident involving fire at some time.

Tenten leapt into the air, four poison senbon already in each hand. She flung them all at the same time. Seven of them struck the woman, the eighth barely missing her.

The red head turned to Tenten and laughed. "Is that the best you can do?"

Tenten smirked inwardly. It should take around fifteen minutes for the poison to sufficiently work its way into her bloodstream, then it would attack her muscles and vital organs, immobilizing her and maybe even killing.

The womans shape blurred and seemed to melt in front of her eyes.

Tenten didn't realize that the womans katana had been drawn, or that the strange woman was behind her until the razor sharp edge of the Katana grazed the tender skin on her throat, nicking it ever so slightly; blood welling up from the shallow cut and trickling slowly down her neck and into the neckline of her shirt.

Her brain whirring into action, Tenten quickly slid under the blade, bracing her hands as she flipped, kicking the sword out of her opponents grasp. With precise timing and deadly accuracy, she produced one of her many concealed kunai, just in time to parry the roundhouse kick the woman had just aimed at her neck.

Her opponents brown eyes widened in shock. It was too late to stop the kick, and it was too powerful to not cause any damage.

The kunai was sharp, and there was a sickening crunch as it lodged itself in flesh and bone. Tenten tried her best not to flinch as blood started flowing from the wound, cascading down the womans still raised leg, and dripping onto the floor like some sort of sick fountain.

She released the kunai from her grip, and was almost relived as the poison she had got the woman with almost a quarter hour earlier, finally took effect, and the red-head's body crumpled like a crushed paper bird, her injured leg folding underneath her, the wound still bleeding copiously.

Tenten shook her head, trying to regain her composure. It wasn't usually like her to loose her cool on missions. But the blood just reminded of..of that night. The injury...the horrible sound of breaking bones...it..it was... as if..

Tenten mentally slapped herself. _Snap out of it, otherwise your just going to get in the way..._

She took a deep, calming breath and quickly glanced over to see if Neji, Sasuke or Naruto needed any help.

* * *

The other members of her team seemed to have finished their fight also, the burly ninja lay obviously dead, a large gash in his throat. Sasuke was leant nonchalantly against the sone walls of the room, polishing his twin katanas, Naruto held a small unmoving girl in his arms, as Neji peered at her, his brow furrowed.

"Is she dead?"

Tenten's voice seemed to startle the two. Neji didn't outwardly show it, but Tenten had been reading his body language for nearly seven years now, so to her it was obvious he was startled.

Naruto was less apt at hiding it, he visibly jumped, turning to face her, his blue cerulean eyes wide.

"No, no she's not." Naruto spoke, his voice unusually hoarse. "But, she seems to have some sort of respitia – respit, _breathing _problem."

Naruto seemed to look at her almost expectantly. It took Tenten a moment to figure out what it meant.

"Damn it , Naruto, I'm not Sakura!" Tenten whispered, dread washing down her spine. That much was true – she was no medical nin, her chakra control was good at best, and even that was stretching it. She could mend minor injuries maybe even perform CPR at a push but starting a small child's respiratory system would involve inserting some of her own chakra into the girls chakra stream, to shock the organs into working again, but she would have to be precise, too little chakra would do nothing but irritate the problem further, and too much would be potentially fatal.

She turned to Neji. "Wouldn't you be a better option, your chakra control is much more precise than mine."

Neji glared at her for a second, and she was slightly taken aback. "I need to watch the girls chakra system, to tell you if its too much, or too little."

"Uchiha?" Tenten turned to him almost pleadingly.

The raven haired man just sighed, as if he was totally bored with the whole situation. "My chakra control is marginally better than the dobe's." He admitted begrudgingly.

"I-I..." Tenten faltered. If she didn't act now, the girl would die, the mission would fail and she'd never make it to jonin. Plus the fact she'd never ever live down the guilt if the girl died. Not a child as young as five. But at the same time, this could all go horribly wrong.

"Fine." Tenten almost snapped. "But you do know how wrong this could go?"

* * *

She cleared her mind totally, drawing the chakra to her fingers. Carefully, she pressed them to the child's throat.

"Slightly more." She heard Neji mutter to her left. She tentatively increased the chakra flow to her hands.

"Stop." He murmured, closer this time, near her ear lobe. His breath sending chills down her spine.

Tenten swallowed the emotions that had ambushed her and sprung out of the nowhere in her head, and made her mind clear once more.

"Do it now." The byakugan users tone was commanding.

Tenten took a small breath, praying this would work, and pressed her fingers to the childs skin.

* * *

For a moment nothing happened. The tension in the room could have been sliced with a knife. Even Sasuke seemed to care about the outcome. Tenten could sense the three other men in the room, how on edge they were, how on edge she was.

The small girl gave a weak cough, and Tenten almost jumped out of her skin.

The girl coughed again, more violently this time, as her lungs began to function normally again.

The girl coughed a third time, this time it was horrible and scratchy and a second later Tenten had flipped the girl into the recovery position as she began retching, bringing up what appeared to be water out of her lungs.

The child's coughs subsided , and her small fists began clutching at Tenten's hair and clothing, an miserable mewling sound escaping her vocal chords, as she began to sob.

Tenten smoothed back the girls hair, trying desperately to soothe her.

Naruto took off his jacket and wrapped it around the girl, before scooping her up in his arms and rocking her back and forth.

"We should get her somewhere warm. She may catch pneumonia if she stays in the cold in those wet clothes any longer."

The girl – The daiymos daughter – had stopped crying now and seemed to be asleep. Tenten sent the blond kyuubi container an appraising glance, she had never expected him of all people to be a good comforter.

Tenten rubbed her temples tiredly, and looked up feeling a warm, reassuring hand on her shoulder. She glanced up and saw Neji, and inwardly smiled to herself.

**Okay, so I'm really not happy with this chapter, its too short and I feel like it drags at lot. However, I'll probably come back and re-write it later on so bear with me. On a happier not I finally got the mission finished, so now I can move on the the next segment of the story which has the first major piece of Neji/Ten action. Please R&R :-)**


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